SQUIRRELS GONE NUTZ -- STITCHING AND THANK YOU -- AUGUST 22, 2021

Hello friends!  It's that time of the month again where my favorite crafty people, aka The Squirrel Squad, and I share what we have made for our Squirrels Gone Nutz hop.  In case you have forgotten the reason we started this hop, we all wanted to be able to use those supplies we have stashed (squirreled) away, add a specific technique or supply, and hopefully inspire others to do the same!  Don't you just love our crazy graphic that Karen designed for us?  I think that guy is hilarious!

For this month, it was decided to do stitching, which could be real or faux, and using thank you as a theme.  Now it might seem that we really just chose a technique and a theme, without actually focusing on using any tucked away supplies.  But, you're wrong!  Some of us thought with stitching, we could be using some stitching dies that hadn't been used, or thread that we have had from other crafts we've done in the past (hello cross-stitching!).  At least those were my thoughts about it!  So, with that in mind, let's have a look at what I made:

I have been getting the Spellbinders Large die of the month for the last couple of months now, and this card uses the card panel stitching die from the May 2021 kit.  Now, I know it hasn't been in my stash *all* that long, but I really did want to use it before the flowers wilted! 😆  I cut it from black 65lb. cardstock from Recollections, and then decided to use some variegated DMC thread that I have in my stash for the larger flowers, leaves, and stems.  this was all done using 3 strands.  The centers of the purple flowers were stitched with gold metallic DMC thread in 2 strands, and the smaller flowers were stitched using Gutermann Sulky thread in Holoshimmer, done with a single strand, but stitched 4 times.  All that stitching took me several evenings of watching Outlander to finish!

Once all the stitching was completed, I used Simon's Craft Tacky glue to attach any loose ends.  Then, I trimmed and attached tiny pieces of foam tape to the back of the panel, and adhered it to the front of an A2 card base.  For the sentiment, I grabbed my Bitty Buzzwords stamps and dies from Honey Bee, and cut the "thanks" shadow layer twice from the same black cardstock as the panel, and the word 3 times from the same white as the card case.  I adhered all the word layers together with Bearly Art glue, then used my MISTI and Versa Fine Clair Nocturne ink to stamp the "sending you" from the stamp set, using the die cuts as a placement guide before adhering them to the card base. As an added touch, I adhered some gems from my stash to some of the flower centers. Here are some other views of my card...I think the last 2 pics really show the dimension this card has!

Since this is a hop, you may have come here from the fabulously talented Bory...if not, I encourage you to continue on with the hop to the wonderful Karen, and make your way back around!  We are a small hop, so it wouldn't take you long at all!  As always, thanks for stopping by, and don't forget that we'd love it if you subscribed, and left us some comment love!  Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~ Marie